Church usher Wherda Ursey, middle, stands in the back waiting to show people to their seats during Sunday church services at Campbell Chapel AME on Nov. 19, 2017 in Denver.

Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post

Derek Hill and his wife Krista, right, pray as Reverend Jennifer Leath, left, ends the Sunday church services with a prayer at Campbell Chapel AME on Nov. 19, 2017 in Denver.

Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post

Genevieve Smith sings with other members of the congregation during Sunday church services at Campbell Chapel AME on Nov. 19, 2017 in Denver.

Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post

Ezell White Jr, middle, sits with his daughter Hayze, 4, in his lap as they listen to Reverend Jennifer Leath, not shown, give her sermon during Sunday church services at Campbell Chapel AME on Nov. 19, 2017 in Denver.

Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post

Reverend Jennifer Leath, middle, leads the congregation in song during Sunday church services at Campbell Chapel AME on Nov. 19, 2017 in Denver.

Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post

Hassan Latif, middle, executive director of Second Chance Center, whose organization was a recipient of a $5,000 donation from the church, thanks the congregation during Sunday church services at Campbell Chapel AME on Nov. 19, 2017 in Denver.

Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post

Debbie Osborne walks her two grandchildren Journey Tolbert, 2, middle, and Trista Jordan, 11, to their seats in the pews during Sunday church services at Campbell Chapel AME on Nov. 19, 2017 in Denver.

Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post

Sarah Shikes,of Centro Humanitario, whose organization was a recipient of $5,000 from the church, thanks the congregation during Sunday church services at Campbell Chapel AME on Nov. 19, 2017 in Denver.

Young Journey Tolbert, 2, middle, gets help as she gives money during the offering with her grandmother Debbie Osborne, in middle, during Sunday church services at Campbell Chapel AME on Nov. 19, 2017 in Denver.

Reverend Jennifer Leath, middle, leads the congregation in song during Sunday church services with a prayer at Campbell Chapel AME on Nov. 19, 2017 in Denver.

During a Sunday service at New Hope Baptist Church in Denver in October, a visitor stood up and began shouting during the sermon.

It was a few weeks before a shooter killed 26 people and wounded 20 others at a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, but it still alarmed many in the pews that day, said Rev. Eugene Downing Jr., the pastor at New Hope.

“That created some uncertainties for members of our congregation,” Downing said. “Some anxiety.”

But the worshipers also were prepared, trained in a protocol developed after nine people were killed during a Bible study meeting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., in 2015.

“We are at a day and age where security, unfortunately, has to be a part of the ministry,” Downing said.

The Texas tragedy understandably increased anxiety for worshipers across the nation. It also drew the attention of law enforcement officials.

Houses of worship across Colorado are exploring heightened security, including installing better lighting and surveillance cameras, practicing emergency-response drills, and designating panic rooms to keep their buildings, and themselves, safe.

On Nov. 6, the day after the Sunday morning massacre in Texas, Aurora police posted “Safety Tips for Communities of Faith” — a six-step instructional sheet on how to stay safe — on Twitter and Facebook. A week later, the department provided “special tactics training” at Highpoint church.

“We put that out,” Aurora police spokesman Officer Kenneth Forrest said. “We’ve been working with churches for years on how to keep their congregations safe and have a plan, hopefully, mitigating the effects if there is an active shooter.”

.@AuroraPD & @AuroraFireDpt conducting important joint special tactics training. Thank you to HighPoint Church near Southlands for allowing us to use your facility. A successful day in helping APD/AFD maximize its operational readiness. pic.twitter.com/2KeIUSy37O

“We certainly mourn any time gun violence happens in our communities,” said Adrian Miller, executive director of the Colorado Council of Churches. “It’s especially jarring to us. Places of worship are places of peace and love.”

Although a June 2015 shooting by a white supremacist occurred far away — inside Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C. — it proved painfully close for many Colorado worshipers.

“That felt like part of our family,” said Miller, a lifelong member of the Campbell Chapel AME Church in Denver. “Congregations here are looking at these issues of safety.”

In Sutherland Springs, the gunman showed up at a festival a week before the shooting acting strange — enough to draw the attention of two longtime parishioners. In retrospect, the festival sighting is now discussed as a missed opportunity for prevention.

Safety tips passed along by Aurora police, as well as other law enforcement agencies, include having trained observers — inside the buildings and out — looking for suspicious people and activity. Heightened vigilance at a place of worship, which are traditionally halls of peace and refuge, now seems like a necessary precaution. Still, churches have always welcomed strangers.

“We don’t want to get on a path where we are fearful of each other as we worship God,” Miller said.

At New Hope in October, Downing was preaching a sermon based on Old Testament readings about a new king doing away with reforms of the previous king. The sermon was intentionally drawing parallels to present-day America, but the names Donald Trump and Barack Obama were not used.

New Hope has a racially diverse congregation but is predominately black. A white man in the audience, holding a Bible, rose to his feet and began shouting.

“He began waving his Bible,” Downing said. “I saw him and figured he was celebrating the sermon with me.”

Downing kept preaching — and the man kept shouting. Downing soon realized the man was proclaiming his support of President Trump and, in doing so, disrupting the sermon.

Nick Wagner, Austin American-Statesman via AP

Carrie Matula embraces a woman after a fatal shooting at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, on Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017. Matula said she heard the shooting from the gas station where she works a block away.

Nick Wagner, Austin American-Statesman via AP

Law enforcement officials work the scene of a fatal shooting at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, on Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017.

Jay Janner, Austin American-Statesman via AP

Investigators work at the scene of a mass shooting at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, on Sunday Nov. 5, 2017. A man opened fire inside of the church in the small South Texas community on Sunday, killing more than 20 people.

Jay Janner, Austin American-Statesman via AP

Investigators work at the scene of a deadly shooting at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, Sunday Nov. 5, 2017. A man opened fire inside of the church in the small South Texas community on Sunday, killing more than 20 people.

Nick Wagner, Austin American-Statesman via AP

A man wipes his eyes after a deadly shooting at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017. A man opened fire inside of the church in the small South Texas community on Sunday, killing more than 20 people.

San Antonio Express-News, Zuma Press/TNS

A group gathered in prayer outside the Community Center, after a mass shooting occurred at the First Baptist Church on Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017.

Jay Janner, Austin American-Statesman via AP

Enrique and Gabby Garcia watch investigators at the scene of a mass shooting at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, on Sunday Nov. 5, 2017. A man opened fire inside of the church in the small South Texas community on Sunday, killing more than 20 people.

Erich Schlegel, Getty Images

Law enforcement and forensic officials gather near the First Baptist Church following a shooting on Nov. 5, 2017 in Sutherland Springs, Texas. At least 20 people were reportedly killed and 24 injured when a gunman, identified as Devin P. Kelley, 26, entered the church during a service and opened fire.

Erich Schlegel, Getty Images

People gather near First Baptist Church following a shooting on Nov. 5, 2017 in Sutherland Springs, Texas. At least 26 people were reportedly killed and 24 injured when a gunman, identified as Devin P. Kelley, 26, entered the church during a service and opened fire.

Jay Janner, Austin American-Statesman via AP

A couple comfort each other at a community center in Sutherland Springs, Texas, near the scene of a mass shooting at the First Baptist Church on Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017. A man opened fire inside of the church in the small South Texas community on Sunday, killing more than 20 people.

Nick Wagner, Austin American-Statesman via AP

A woman prays with a man after a fatal shooting at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, on Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017.

Eric Baradat, AFP/Getty Images

Texas Governor Greg Abbott speaks at a press conference on Nov. 5, 2017, in Sutherland Springs, Texas about the First Baptist Church mass shooting.
"There are 26 lives that have been lost. We don't know if that number will rise or not, all we know is that's too many, and this will be a long, suffering mourning for those in pain," Abbott said.

Suzanne Cordeiro, AFP/Getty Images

Wilson County Sheriff Joe Tackitt (C) speaks at a press conference on Nov. 5, 2017, in Sutherland Springs, Texas about the First Baptist Church mass shooting.
"There are 26 lives that have been lost. We don't know if that number will rise or not, all we know is that's too many, and this will be a long, suffering mourning for those in pain," Texas Governor Greg Abbott (L seated) said.

Darren Abate, The Associated Press

Law enforcement officers man a barricade near the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs after a fatal shooting, Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017, in Sutherland Springs, Texas.

Suzanne Cordeiro, AFP/Getty Images

Police block a road in Sutherland Springs, Texas, on Nov. 5, 2017, after a mass shooting at the the First Baptist Church.
A gunman went into the church during Sunday morning services and shot dead some two dozen worshippers, the sheriff said, in the latest mass shooting to shock the US. "Approximately 25 people" were dead, including the shooter, Wilson County Sheriff Joe Tackitt told NBC News. At least 10 people were wounded. The motive was not immediately known, he added.

Nick Wagner, Austin American-Statesman via AP

Law enforcement officials works at the scene of a fatal shooting at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, on Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017.

Darren Abate, The Associated Press

Members of the FBI walk behind the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs after a fatal shooting, Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017, in Sutherland Springs, Texas.

Jay Janner, Austin American-Statesman via AP

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott consoles Ann Montgomery, a Sunday school teacher at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs during a candlelight vigil for the victims of a fatal shooting at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017, in Sutherland Springs, Texas.

Darren Abate, The Associated Press

Mourners participate in a candlelight vigil held for the victims of a fatal shooting at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017, in Sutherland Springs, Texas.

Darren Abate, The Associated Press

Mourners participate in a candlelight vigil held for the victims of a fatal shooting at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017, in Sutherland Springs, Texas.

Jay Janner, Austin American-Statesman via AP

Bailey LeJeaune, 17, and David Betancourt, 18, hold candles during a vigil in Sutherland Springs for the victims of a deadly shooting at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017. A man opened fire inside of the church in the small South Texas community on Sunday, killing more than 20 people.

Nick Wagner, Austin American-Statesman via AP

Lisa Cavazos speaks with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott during a candlelight vigil held for the victims of a fatal shooting at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017, in Sutherland Springs, Texas.

Church staffers made their way toward the man, but he quickly left the sanctuary, got into a vehicle and drove away.

“I never stopped preaching, and the service continued,” Downing said. “If I had stopped preaching, it would have been a bigger scene.”

Downing, guided by a 30-page safety protocol New Hope developed after Charleston, filed a police report after the service. The document was drawn up after church staff and some members had attended Department of Homeland Security seminars on safety.

Security at New Hope includes 32 security cameras, as well as trained security and law enforcement officers staffing the building and services. Pastors and the congregation have worked on further strengthening their relationship with Denver police.

Temple Emanuel, the largest and oldest synagogue in the Rocky Mountain region, with about 2,000 member households, contracts with a private security firm, as well as uniformed Denver police officers who moonlight at Friday night and Saturday morning services.

“It’s saddening that we’ve had to get to this point, where we have to put security protocols in place,” Rabbi Joe Black said. “I’d rather spend our budget on social justice issues, or education, or teaching, or more staff.”

Recent incidents of anti-Semitism, including white nationalist marches in Charlottesville, Va., in August and October, have captured the attention of temple members.

“We’ve reached this tipping point where members said they’re not comfortable because of issues of violence,” Black said. “We realized we had to increase our security profile so members of our congregation would feel safe.”

Clergy interviewed for this story were reluctant to give too much detail about security, worrying that the information could lead to breaches. The question of guns, concealed weapons in particular, is especially sticky.

“We do not have a policy or a protocol on that,” Black said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if there are (armed members). It’s nothing we encourage or have a program for.”

At Glory of God Lutheran Church in Wheat Ridge, doors are attended and locked when services start. Emergency-exit plans have been discussed and practiced. Contemplating or incorporating concealed weapons, however, has been off base. “We don’t discuss that. We have no policy on that,” Pastor Emily Cardin said.

The church does have a “safety and security team,” Cardin said, as well as a good working relationship with the local police and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, which held a church safety forum in November.

“We’re very blessed we work with them,” Cardin said.

The Texas shooting happened in a rural, small community of about 400 people, 30 miles southeast of San Antonio. Aurora, a city of more than 360,000, has several churches with more than 400 parishioners each. One practice that all houses of worship should share, no matter their size or location, is to have an emergency plan, said Forrest, the Aurora police spokesman.

“Just to reinforce the message, after what just happened in Texas, if something does happen, they have a plan in place — just like with a fire,” Forrest said.

Buildings should be well-lighted, and bushes and shrubs trimmed to eliminate hiding places. “It’s crime prevention through environmental design,” he said.

Police recommend that if someone sees something suspicious, they report it. “If you see something, say something,” the tip sheet says. Call local police or 911. “These are trying times,” Forrest said. “Make sure you are prepared if something happens.”

Meanwhile, in the event that the man who shouted at New Hope returns to the church, Downing would like to greet him and engage him.

“It’s a reminder, we need to talk more,” Downing said. “Sit with one another, people of different opinions and different backgrounds. The more we talk, the more we come together.”

Kieran Nicholson covers breaking news for The Denver Post. He started at the Post in 1986, at the old building on 15th and California streets. Nicholson has covered a variety of beats including suburbs, courts, crime and general assignment.

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